A new Mastercard report shows how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are ready to expand beyond their borders, but face disproportionate costs, delays, and a lack of visibility of international payments. 

The research, titled ‘Small businesses, big opportunity: Unlocking SME potential in Latin America’s cross-border space‘, uncovers a need for structural redesign to boost SMEs’ inclusion and global competitiveness.

The new report was developed in collaboration with Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) and K2.

It unveils why the current international payment system, designed for large corporations, does not meet the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Three out of five SMEs in the region already work with international suppliers, and in markets like Mexico and Brazil, 75 per cent plan to expand their global partnerships.

Nevertheless, they face high fees, uncompetitive conversions, and delays: In Brazil, 80 per cent of payments take more than four days, and one-in-five take more than 10 days.

Sending just US$250 can involve average fees of 23.3 per cent, reaching up to 30 per cent depending on the destination country.

Why it matters

• SMEs represent 98 per cent of the business fabric and 60 per cent of employment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• These inefficiencies in payments may cause supply chain disruptions or loss of key opportunities.

• Banks still hold 75 per cent of these flows but must adapt to avoid losing ground to new technological solutions.

What Mastercard is doing

Mastercard Move, Mastercard’s portfolio of money movement capabilities, offers a solution for the key barriers that limit SMEs’ cross-border growth.

Mastercard Move aims to transform the international payment experience for SMEs with tangible benefits:

• More cost-efficient payments, by reducing intermediaries and hidden fees.

• Total transparency, with real-time traceability of costs and delivery times.

• Faster settlements, even same-day or real-time, in more than 150 markets.

“Small and medium-sized businesses are the silent engine of Latin America. They innovate, generate employment, and keep our economies alive. To reach their true potential, they need more than resilience: they need a financial infrastructure that accompanies them on their global journey,” said Walter Pimenta, executive vice president of commercial and new payment flows at Mastercard for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We are reimagining how international payments should work for SMEs: simply, securely, and adapted to their realities. With Mastercard Move, we help banks lead this transformation, providing them with tools to offer comprehensive solutions that impact where it matters most: liquidity, agility, and trust. Today’s SMEs are tomorrow’s multinationals. And together, we can build the infrastructure they deserve,” he added.